College Women’s Attitudes Toward Sex Workers

A growing number of women are entering the sex industry as a means of funding their education (Reilly 2008). Many people view sex workers in stereotyped ways, and may discriminate and oppress women who work in the sex industry (Wolffers and van Beelen 2003). This investigation assessed attitudes toward sex work. Two hundred sixty-six women from a primarily woman’s university located in the Southwestern region of the U.S. completed selected items from the Attitudes Toward Prostitution Scale, Marlowe-Crowne Social Desirability Scale, and Hostility Toward Women Scale. Results indicated that participants who knew a sex worker had less stereotypical attitudes toward sex workers. However, participants with higher levels of social desirability and hostility toward women had more stereotypical attitudes toward sex workers.     

The relationship between emotion awareness and somatic complaints in children and adolescents: Investigating the mediating role of anxiety and depression

The objective of this study was to examine if emotion awareness in children and adolescents (age 7-18 years old) is directly related to somatic complaints, and if this relationship holds when considering symptoms of anxiety and depression as mediating factors. A number of questionnaires measuring emotion awareness, symptoms of anxiety and depression and somatic complaints were administered to Dutch schoolchildren (N?=?617). A path model was constructed, with the use of structural equation modelling. The results showed that two aspects of emotion awareness (bodily awareness and differentiating between emotions) contributed to the prediction of somatic complaints. However, this was no longer the case when controlling for symptoms of anxiety and depression. Thus, in this study, no direct relation was found between emotion awareness and somatic complaints. Instead, the relation was perfectly mediated by symptoms of anxiety and depression. The results suggest that focusing only on the relation between emotion awareness and somatic complaints is an oversimplified perspective that falls short as a starting point to find therapeutic solutions for children who suffer from somatic complaints.     

The relationship between agreeableness and the development of the working alliance in patients with borderline personality disorder

The working alliance between therapist and patient is an important component of effective interventions for borderline personality disorder (BPD). The current study examines whether client personality affects the development of the working alliance during the treatment of BPD, and whether this influences treatment effectiveness. Data was based on 87 patients with BPD who were participants in a randomized controlled trial comparing Dialectical Behavior Therapy (DBT) and general psychiatric management. Higher levels of trait Agreeableness were associated with steeper increases in working alliance throughout treatment, but only in the DBT condition. Increases in working alliance were in turn associated with better clinical outcomes. Mediation models revealed a significant indirect path from Agreeableness to better clinical outcomes, mediated through larger improvements in working alliance over time. These results highlight the role that patient personality can play during the therapeutic process, with a specific focus on the importance of Agreeableness for alliance development.     

Book and Website Reviews

After first demonstrating that definitions of customer relationship management (CRM) vary widely, we build upon stakeholder and network theories and argue that there are two fundamental categories of participants in any CRM initiative: (1) “core” stakeholders (i.e., the firm selling its products or services as well as its customers), and (2) various “noncore” stakeholders (e.g., CRM consultants). We then develop a process-based framework and related propositions capturing the various stakeholders involved in a CRM initiative as well as several important mediating and moderating relationships yet to receive attention in the literature. Next, we highlight the specific frame of reference and inherent biases of each type of CRM stakeholder, with particular emphasis on how each attempts to sell its offerings, services, or wares. At the core of our framework is a little-commented-upon mediating construct that we label “Shared Understanding of CRM.” The paper next offers an additional, and perhaps more pragmatic, framework for managers to garner a better understanding of which specific stakeholders are at work in any given CRM initiative, which type of customers might be involved, and which outcome variables or metrics might be salient. The paper’s conclusion offers insights into how the elusive goal of shared understanding of CRM might best be achieved.     

Current issues and new directions in Psychology and Health : Bringing basic and applied research together to address underlying mechanisms

Three different studies were conducted to examine the impact of heuristic reasoning in the perception of health-related events: lifetime risk of breast cancer (Study 1, n = 468), subjective life expectancy (Study 2, n = 449), and subjective age of onset of menopause (Study 3, n = 448). In each study, three experimental conditions were set up: control, anchoring heuristic and availability heuristic. Analyses of Covariance controlling for optimism, depressive mood, Locus of Control, hypochondriac tendencies and subjective health, indicated significant effect of experimental conditions on perceived breast-cancer risk (p = 0.000), subjective life expectancy (p = 0.000) and subjective onset of menopause (p = 0.000). Indeed, all findings revealed that availability and anchoring heuristics were being used to estimate personal health-related events. The results revealed that some covariates, hypochondriac tendencies in Study 1, optimism, depressive mood and subjective health in Study 2 and internal locus of control in Study 3 had significant impact on judgment of riskiness.     

Effects of IQ on Executive Function Measures in Children with ADHD

The present study compared children with Attention-Deficit Hyperactivity Disorder (ADHD) and controls on a selected set of clinical measures of executive function (EF). A total of 92 children (51 ADHD, 41 control), ages 6-16, completed measures chosen from a larger neuropsychological battery to illustrate diverse components of the EF construct (planning, inhibitory control, response preparation, memory search). The selected measures were moderately correlated with one another, and moderately correlated with IQ. After controlling for age, sex, presence of learning disability (LD), ADHD, and IQ test version, Full Scale IQ was significantly related to four of the five selected EF measures. A second analysis showed group differences on the EF measures at different IQ levels. After covarying for age, there was a significant multivariate effect for IQ level (average, high average, superior) and a significant multivariate interaction between group (ADHD vs. control) and IQ level. Three of the five selected EF measures showed significant univariate group effects (controls performing better than ADHD) at the average IQ level; however, there were no significant group differences between children with ADHD and controls at high average or superior IQ levels. These results suggest that clinical measures of EF may differ among children with ADHD and controls at average IQ levels, but there is poorer discriminatory power for these measures among children with above average IQ.     

English,Christian or Muslim Law: Deconstructing Some Myths

Archbishop Rowan Williams's 2008 lecture, “Civil and Religious Law in England: A Religious Perspective,” has become an historic reference point for discussions about relationships between Islam, religious law and English law. One of the Archbishop's heart-felt pleas was for “deconstruction” of myths about both Islam and the Enlightenment. Continued stereotypes perpetuated by the “Trojan Horse” debate over Birmingham schools and the aftermath of the Charlie Hebdo event suggest the plea went unheard. This article aims to address factors that prevent objective assessment of the relationship between English law, religious laws, Islam and other faiths. It is hoped that this will help the deconstruction of myths by examining what the law says, the claims religious communities make and whether further change is needed. The relationship of religious laws, norms and courts to secular legal systems is a pertinent topic for Christian–Muslim dialogue to which it is hoped that this article might contribute. Amongst issues considered are the scope for more formal recognition or monitoring of religious laws that have an impact on the lives of some UK citizens, and arguments for recognition on the basis that a democracy should reflect all parties to its citizenship and protection of the most vulnerable. As calls for further recognition of religious laws arise, the deconstruction of myths can only smooth the way for their objective assessment.